Successfully closing a sale is neither easy nor hard. It depends on the techniques you choose to employ. With so many digital changes occurring daily in the marketing world, old school sales techniques don’t seem to be working anymore.
Today, all the information a client needs about a product is readily available on the internet. There are also countless options left and right that a customer can choose from. Now more than ever, salespeople are tasked with looking for great sales strategies to attract more customers.
Even though aggressive sales tactics are highly discouraged, they are instrumental in boosting sales if used correctly. It’s all about crafting the art of persuasion without being spammy or manipulative.
What is a Sales Tactic?
A sales tactic, also known as a sales technique, refers to a selling method devised by experts to increase sales. Most tactics are refined through years of trial and error.
There is a notable difference between a ‘sales process’ and a ‘sales tactic.’
A sales process is an inclusive term that encompasses all the steps taken from prospecting to becoming a customer. Your focus is on taking a customer from point A to B, hoping it will eventually lead to a conversion or sale.
A sales tactic or technique focuses on a specific part of the entire process. Here, your attention is on the aspects necessary in making a sale.
An aggressive sales tactic doesn’t necessarily mean you have to dominate and push a customer to buy. Being pushy makes a customer defensive. Instead, you have to learn how to coax a potential client.
As a hungry salesperson, you are determined to make sales, which is a good thing. But, there is a thin line between convincing a customer and becoming annoying or spammy. Therefore, accepting that a customer will not buy is also part of an aggressive sales tactic.
Here are five aggressive sale tactics that can work in any industry when used correctly.
Focus On Your Sales Value Proposition
Sales value proposition or SVP is a tool every salesperson should use to communicate the value of their product or services. A good SVP is molded to suit your prospects’ needs.
Most salespeople mistake copying someone else’s style with the notion that whatever worked for company A will also work for you since you are in the same niche. This isn’t true. In fact SVP and mirroring is so effective the entire sales enablement industry is built around it: Therefore, always aim at creating your value proposition that suits your prospects, and it must evolve and get better over time.
Therefore, always aim at creating your value proposition that suits your prospects. Your SVP must be:
Clear and obvious
The solution your product or service will offer should be displayed. Most customers already know what they want. Taking too long to explain the benefits associated with your products only makes a customer lose interest and jump to the next page or seller.
Always avoid using jargon or ‘industry-related vocabularies’ that a customer isn’t familiar with. The key is to make a sale, not to sound smart.
Adaptable
Place your product or service in a way that integrates with a customer’s daily life. Even if you’re offering or introducing a new item, assure your client that it won’t disrupt their company activities or change the course of their life (unless your product is designed for such a purpose, i.e., weight loss solutions).
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Ask for Referrals
Don’t shy away from asking for referrals from your customers. Many salespeople lose the opportunity to make additional sales by not asking for a referral from their customers.
Results from research conducted by Influtive reveal that 84% of business to business buying process starts with a referral. Also, Extole ePaper indicates that 28% of millennials won’t try a product if their friends don’t recommend it. This shows the effect referrals have on boosting sales.
You don’t have to set up a referral program just to get referrals (but a referral program also comes in handy.) A hungry salesperson doesn’t sit on the sidelines, waiting for a customer to initiate a referral conversation. Instead, they step in and take the lead.
Most customers often don’t feel prompted to share something unless they are told to. Therefore, a simple “Don’t forget to share with your friends” or “feel free to share with your friends” goes a long way.
The same case applies to your friends and family members. Asking them to share your product on their social media platforms works.
If you are using social media as your marketing and sales platform, the share icon will also do the trick. Another way of getting referrals is by offering the right products and services. Once your product or service meets a customer’s expectations, they will willingly share and refer you to those close to them.
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Abandon The Status Quo
Most salespeople join in the same “old tune” used by everyone else in the industry. Focusing on the everyday needs that a customer has won’t make you stand out from your competitors. You’ll be delivering the same products as your competitors using the same tactic.
To scale up your sales, you need to stray away from the status quo. Find needs that customers didn’t know they have or are often underlooked and use them to make more sales. Shifting your focus on the science of unconsidered needs helps your product or service seem unique even though it is similar to your competitor.
This means that you have to change your messaging strategy and entire marketing mix. The critical benefits highlighted, the pain points, market gap, etc., will change. In turn, you’ll have a new and unique sales value proposition that will most likely draw more people in.
Being unique helps customers see your products and services in a new light. This is simply because clients will be compelled to buy what you’re offering for different purposes than the normal ones.
Abandoning the status quo also allows you to distance yourself from the “price wrangles”. Customers will stop comparing your product on a price basis. In short, it earns you a new seat on the table.
Let Your Customer be The Hero
In every fictional movie or book we watch or read, a hero conquers obstacles and walks away happy. When selling, let your customer be the hero.
Therefore, the tactic you use should focus more on making the customer happy than painting you as the good guy.
Most salespeople often paint themselves as heroes unconsciously. Here are some few pointers showing you the commonly made mistakes:
- Focusing on exalting your company, agency, or services
- A selling story based on a company’s journey instead of products or services
- Focusing on the benefits a company or agent has to offer more than the products and services.
Any sales tactic that touches on any of the above three points is more of a self-promotional technique. And, customers don’t have the time to listen to a salesperson who is endlessly babbling about themselves.
To let your customer be the hero, you have to:
- Elaborate on how your product or service helps a client reach their goal.
- Focus on your customers’ problems right now and how purchasing your product or service will get rid of the problems.
- Be the mentor in your story, and help your customers overcome their challenges.
By putting your customers’ interests first, you’ll be able to gain their trust. This translates to more sales.
Leverage Your Customers Emotions
Leveraging your customers’ emotions to secure a sale is a tactic that has been proven effective time and time again. Once you learn how to employ psychological techniques to reinforce urgency, FOMO (Fear of missing out), need, and persuasion, you’ll automatically have the upper hand when it comes to selling.
When writing your sales page, ad, or even physically approaching a client, use powerful words that elicit emotions.
For example, dependable, genuine, free, new, prove, secret, improved, etc.
But, learning how to use emotions to make an initial sale isn’t extremely hard. The real challenge comes when you have to apply the same technique to retain your clients.
Being a good salesperson involves both getting a new client and keeping existing customers.
To secure a long-lasting client relationship, you have to upsell your products and services using emotions. And the need for inclusivity makes a customer’s emotions gullible.
One way of offering inclusivity is by growing with your clients. When you have a new product or service or even an upgrade, what you were offering before, create a unique opportunity or challenge suitable for existing clients. This makes customers feel appreciated, valued, and considered in your growth.
Conclusion
Contrary to popular opinions, aggressive sales tactics work well when used correctly. As a hungry salesperson looking to skyrocket your sales, it is essential to ensure that you understand a tactic well before employing it. If you don’t, you are at risk of wasting time, effort, and stagnating your sales.
You can use all of the five aggressive sales tactics or choose a few and improve on them. You can always borrow ideas from multiple places. Good luck in making more sales!